


The Elusive Phenominon of Turbulence

by Devilc



Series: MCU Earth 19999.5 [2]
Category: Gifted (2017), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crack Crossover, Gen, T'Challa don't play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 23:41:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13134627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devilc/pseuds/Devilc
Summary: No sooner than he comes fully awake, but there's a flash of light and a glimpse of a gaudy gold horned helmet and Steve blinks out of the medical lab, and Bucky launches off the bed, straps snapping like so much crepe paper, and ::poof:: Loki blinks back in, and Bucky has just enough time to register that there's a dark-haired, bearded man smacking Loki with a book, before he cold-cocks that Asgardian asshole and lays him out.





	The Elusive Phenominon of Turbulence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Roga](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roga/gifts).



> The prompt was:  
>  _I just loved the movie, and want more; Frank and Mary, Frank and Roberta, Frank and Bonnie... just more scenes of *what happens next*. ALTERNATIVELY: look, I'm not saying I have a Chris Evans problem, but if you want to write some kind of Captain America crossover... I would not be against that._
> 
> Banged out at the very last minute because I had an idea JUST today about how this all comes together as I was driving home, so it's spell checked, but not beta'd or proofed, because I'm literally racing the clock here.
> 
> Title is a reference to the Navier-Stokes problem.
> 
> Written as a not for profit work of fair use whatiffery to bring some much needed joy into the world.

Steve's voice talking to him about … well, whatever happened to cross Steve's mind, pulls him up out of the stasis sleep, tells him to take as long as he needs to come 'round, "It's not a race, Bucky."

 _Yes,_ he wants to say, but he can't make his mouth and tongue form the words. What tumbles out is a bunch of slurred moans.

No sooner than he comes fully awake, but there's a flash of light and a glimpse of a gaudy gold horned helmet and Steve blinks out of the medical lab, and Bucky launches off the bed, straps snapping like so much crepe paper, and ::poof:: Loki blinks back in, and Bucky has just enough time to register that there's a dark-haired, bearded man smacking Loki with a book, before he cold-cocks that Asgardian asshole and lays him out. Thor couldn't have done a better job with Mjollnir.

T'Challa's medical staff completes the job with a set of vibranium shackles and enough propofol to tranq an elephant.

****

Bucky spends the next 45 minutes explaining to T'Challa and his privy council that Loki's got this idea that if he can get Steve off the board, that hamstrings the Avengers, and with them off the board, he'll be able to rule the planet. (Oh the irony that Loki doesn't know that the Avengers did a fine job of destroying themselves without any help from him.) Also, it's not the first time he's pulled this stunt, but that to make the magic balance out, he's got to swap Steve with an alternate version of himself. All they need to do now is open a portal to whatever reality Loki took Steve to and they can make the swap.

The first problem is, last time, it took a few weeks for Bruce and Tony to figure the physics out and build a machine capable of opening a portal to an alternate reality, and since T'Challa isn't exactly talking to Tony right now, and nobody knows where Bruce is …?

The second problem is, they can't ask Loki for help because (a) they know better than to trust him about anything, _at all_ , and (b) T'Challa's got him on ice in a stasis pod and thinks that "nothing good can come from thawing him out." 

****

After two days, they _finally_ let him see the guy, and it's every bit the gut punch that Bucky knew it would be. Frank Adler is a ringer for Steve, except for the dark hair and the beard, and a bit of ground in oil under his nails, because he's a mechanic. He's a hair slimmer, too, but still powerfully built. But eyes burn with same purpose and clarity that Steve's do, and that's what really twists the knife in Bucky's heart.

One moment Frank was doing a little bedtime reading to his niece, Mary, from the book her mother wrote and the next …? He's a "guest" confined to a room and "guarded by women who look like they could break me with their pinkies."

Nobody's told Frank anything, so Bucky takes a deep breath and explains what's going on. Frank takes it surprisingly well.

It turns out he's a mechanic ... who also just happens to have a PhD in philosophy, with a focus on logic and the roots of mathematics, and his (late) sister and his niece are mathematical prodigies, so the idea of being in an alternate reality doesn't throw him for (much) of a loop.

****

T'Challa's scientists and engineers are _very_ excited about the book Frank brought with him. Frank describes the kind of math problem it solved and the implications it has for engineering and physics and Bucky laughs inside knowing that Tony'd pee his pants to get his hands on that book.

****

Frank has no background in biomechanical medicine, but he's a genius and infinitely patient when it comes to getting Bucky's new arm adjusted. 

(Nobody's ever had his knack, and Bucky's going to miss that a lot when he's gone.)

****

One of the Dora Milaje, Chanté, takes a liking to Frank. Bucky suspects it has nothing to do with mechanics, but everything to do with Frank's attention to detail and being good with his hands.

****

"So, your friend, Steve … how's he with kids?" Frank asks one evening as they're sitting on the roof of a villa, overlooking a stunning view of a river valley. There's going to be a meteor shower tonight, and Frank's a little shocked that Bucky's never seen one, so he insists. ("I used to love New York, too -- but you can't see the stars at night.") 

"He'd give his life for your niece, if that's what you're asking."

Frank cracks open a beer and replies, "I'd give my life for her, too, and I'm dying to get back to her because I love her with all of my heart, but she's stubborn and headstrong and her mind goes at warp-speed, and she could try the patience of a saint."

Bucky thinks for a moment then says, "Steve is the bravest man I've ever met, and the most loyal friend you could ever hope to have. And he could also teach a herd of mules a thing or two about being stubborn."

Frank laughs. "I can only imagine how they're getting on."

**** 

Bucky has no idea if Tony wet his pants over Frank's sister's book, but he _did_ trade the portal generator for a copy of it, with, according to T'Challa, only a few questions asked.

Frank insists on reading the diagnostic and instruction manual for the machine, because he's not going to trust it until it's passed his exam.

****

They step through the portal into the living room of a modest bungalow and find Steve and Mary side by side, painting portraits of their next door neighbor, a 40 something woman named Roberta, who's sitting on the couch -- a lesson on geometry and perspective, it turns out.

"Frank!" A tiny blonde girl launches herself across the room and into Frank's arms. 

A second later he and Steve are hugging like there's no tomorrow.

****

"So, Roberta," Frank says as he wrestles a one-eyed cat into a carrier, "how'd you like to start a new life in an alternate reality in an African paradise called Wakanda? We can only keep the portal open for about 10 minutes, so I'm sorry to spring it on you like this."

"We're a first world African nation that has never been colonized by whites," one the Dora Milaje, Ayo, sent by T'Challa explains, then continues, "Frank spoke very highly of you when he petitioned for citizenship."

"Wait," Bucky says, "are you --"

Frank sighs, "Did nobody brief you? We're moving to Wakanda. T'Challa's granted Mary and I citizenship, Roberta, too, if she wants it." To Roberta he adds, "They have good national healthcare."

"I'll be back in 7 minutes," she says, sprinting for the front door.

"B-but, I thought there had to be an exchange or else it's not going to--" Bucky feels the words dribble out of his mouth.

"Yes," Frank replies as he crams another yowling cat into a carrier, "in magic, there has to be an exchange, but this is physics, so different rules apply." He passes a cat carrier over. "Do you want help get the next cat, Bucky, so I can pack a go bag and grab a copy of my dissertation -- I'm going to apply as a lecturer at the Wakandan Academy, so I can get reduced tuition for Mary."

****

They arrive back to something of an international incident regarding the copy of the mathematical proof that T'Challa exchanged for the portal generator.

"....and I told Mr. Stark," T'Challa says with a twinkle in his eye, "that it was a one time deal, and it is not my problem that he dropped an unbound manuscript and the wind blew several of the pages away."

**Author's Note:**

> There's a companion prequel! [Just My Type](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2843978)


End file.
